David Allen Rivera - Controlled by the Calendar - The Pagan Origins of our Major Holidays

CONTROLLED BY THE

CALENDAR

THE PAGAN ORIGINS OF OUR

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Written by David Allen Rivera

The definitive book on the pagan origins of our major holidays, and

how the observance of them may be robbing you of spiritual fulfilment

Copyright 1997 by David Allen Rivera

Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 97-92258

All Scripture quotations are from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

How It All Started

Pagan Names for the Months of the Year

Pagan Names for the Days of the Week

Constantine and the Roman Catholic Influence

The Facts About Sunday

The Pagan Influences on Christianity

CHAPTER TWO

Valentine's Day: Is it a Christian Observance or a Pagan Celebration?

CHAPTER THREE

Easter: What do Bunnies and Eggs Have to do With Jesus?

Rethinking Easter

When Did These Things Actually Happen

The Pagan Origins of Easter

The Traditions of Easter:

Easter Eggs

The Rabbit

Lent

Easter Sunrise Worship

Easter Candles

Easter Ham

The Easter Lily

Hot Cross Buns

Easter Clothing

What You Can Do

CHAPTER FOUR

Halloween: Halloween Unmasked

Halloween Gets its Foot in The Door

The Druids

Witchcraft

Halloween Becomes a Church Observance

The Traditions of Halloween

The Dangers of Halloween

Dealing with Halloween

CHAPTER FIVE

Christmas: Christmas Unwrapped

It's Not Cool to Yule

The Birth of Jesus

The Wise Men

Looking at The Other Evidence

Hebrew Calendar

The Jewish Feast Days

Saturnalia

The Facts About Bethlehem

The Truth About the Christmas Tree

The Origin of Santa Claus

The Holiday of Christmas

To Yule or Not to Yule

CHAPTER SIX

Conclusion

CHAPTER ONE

HOW IT ALL STARTED

The picture is indelibly etched in our minds. As Moses cowers on top of Mount Sinai, the voice of God commands: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." As he looks skyward, the finger of God burns the words of the Law on the tablets of stone the Ten Commandments. I am, of course, referring to the 1956 American film classic starring Charlton Heston, which is my favourite movie . I mention it here, because it serves to illustrate the point I would like to make, which in turn will establish the basis for the underlying theme of this book God's hatred of idolatry and paganism. Remember, it was the first commandment (Exodus 20:3), and because of that, one can assume that it was the issue most important to him.

When God revealed to Moses the final plague upon Egypt, which would prove to be the coup-de- grace, he went out of his way to address what seemed to be harmless inanimate objects (Exodus 12:12): "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord." God would later command that man was not to make any "graven image, or any likeness," "gods of silver," or "gods of gold" (Exodus 20:4, 23); and he further commanded that man was not to "bow down" or "serve them." The given reason (Exodus 20:5) " ...for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." In Exodus 23:13, he even forbid the "mention of the name of other gods..."

Exodus 22:20 mandated the punishment for anyone caught sacrificing to a false god. They were to be "utterly destroyed." This was not just a threat, or an exaggeration. After being on the mountain forty days and receiving God's law, Moses was ordered to return to the camp because Israel had made a golden calf to worship. To say that Moses was upset, would be putting it mildly. The idol was melted down into a form that could be ground into a powder-like consistency, which was then put into water. The children of Israel were made to drink it (Exodus 32:20). On top of that, Moses demanded to know who was "on the Lord's side." Those not expressing their allegiance to God, about 3,000 men, were killed (Exodus 32:27- 28).

How can it be that the all-powerful creator of all living things was jealous of a lifeless representation of a false, non-existent deity? We are given a clue in Exodus 23:33 "...for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee." There is an implication of deceit here. But, a deception by who? Ironically, the apostle Paul referred to the "snare of the devil" (1 Timothy 3:7, 2 Timothy 2:26), and therein lies the answer.

It seems that the nation of Israel found it difficult to trust and worship a God they could not see, and this certainly was a contributing factor to their periods of falling back into idolatry. The fabrication of an idol enabled them to have something they could look to. So, to counteract their lack of faith, Moses built the Ark of the Covenant, and it became a symbol of the divine presence of God. We, as Christians, know that the idols of Biblical times, as well as the gods who represent various religions today, do not exist, and are in fact a manifestation of Satan, who has deceived its practitioners into believing that they do.

So you see, just as a father would shelter and protect his children, God was doing the same to the children of Israel. Knowing that Satan would try to trick people into worshipping him, God sought to prevent it by totally banning every aspect of idol worship, which included even the mere mention of their names. In this way, there would be no possibility of Satanic influence. Certainly Paul knew of God's intention, when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:11 "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices." His advice is just as good now, as it was then (1 Thessalonians 5:22): "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

Once you understand why God has an intense hatred of idolatry, it is all the more incredible how we have allowed ourselves to be subjected to a calendar that is a testament to the overwhelming influence of false gods in our society. To begin with, all you need to do is to look at the basis for the names of some of the months, as well as for the days of the week. Our calendar actually honours false gods, in fact, when I learned these things in grade school, it caused me to get interested in Greek mythology. So in church, you learn about God; in school, you learn about false gods. I guess that is why there has to be a separation of church and state.

PAGAN NAMES FOR THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR

January: From the Latin Januarius, this month is named after the two-faced Roman God Janus who was able to look back at the past, as well as into the future. One of the major gods of Roman mythology, Janus was initially known as the god of light and day, but later was recognized as the "god of the beginning of things." His help was solicited before important events. He was worshipped as the guardian of shipping and trade, and is sometimes said to be the masculine form of the goddess Diana. The beginning of the year was considered sacred, and a festival in his honour, Agonia, was held on January 9th. The Romans offered sacrifices to Janus , and in a tradition dating back to 747 BC, exchanged gifts with friends and family. The presents were called Strenae, named after Strenia, the goddess of strength. Christian emperors continued the new year tradition, but the pagan rituals became so widespread that the Church tried to prevent its observance through their method of substitution. A Jewish custom, based on the Gospel of St. Luke, said that Jesus was circumcised when he was eight days old. So, in 487, the date of his birth was set at December 25 th, and the Church began celebrating the Feast of the Circumcision on January 1st, to observe the anniversary of the event.